Method and apparatus for indicating a change within a grouping



July 14, 1970 R. M. PINE 3,520,404

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INDIGATING A CHANGE WITHIN A GROUPING FiledJuly 13, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ARRANGE ADDRESSES SELECT AN ADDRESSPOSITION A PORTION OF THE ADDRESS SENSE THE RECOGNIZED DIFFERENCE INPOSITION PLACE THE ADDRESSES ON MAILING PIECES CONVEY THE MAILING PIECETO A DEVICE INVENTOR. ROBERT M. PINE ATTORNEYS Jiy M, II. M. nus;3,520,404

mm ID m'm'ws FOB IIDIGATIIG A CHANGE IITHIN A GROUPING ma July as. an 4Sheets-Sheet 2 COUNTER COUNTER DEL AY COUNTER DELAY COUNTER DELAY CDUNTER INVENTOR. nonemiM. PINE July 14, 1970 R. M. PINE A A 3,520,404

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING A CHANGE WITHIN A GROUPING FiledJuly 13, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. .8?

ROBERT M. PINE BY J AT RNE'YS United States Patent METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR INDICATING A CHANGE WITHIN A GROUPING Robert M. Pine, 9401 HomeAve., Des Plaines, Ill. 60016 Filed July 13, 1967, Ser. No. 653,143 Int.Cl. B07c 1/02 US. Cl. 209-72 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREApparatus for controlling the operation of an auto- :matic addressingmachine and for indicating a change within a grouping to actuate adevice which, for example, can sort mailing pieces addressed thereby.The address information applied to the mailing pieces are printed bycomputer techniques or typed, the position of the ZIP CODE or otherportion of the address being altered with respect to the remainer of theaddress in order to selectively control the operation of the address ingmachine and the device. Photoelectric means are employed for generatingelectrical signals which, when compared with timing signals, indicatethe relative position of the ZIP CODE. A logic circuit responsive tothese signals operates in combination with timed delay units to monitorthe movement of the mailing pieces and to produce signals which controlthe operation of the addressing and device at appropriate times.

Method for indicating a change of ZIP CODE within a grouping on mailpieces by arranging the addresses by groups, selecting either the firstor last address in each group, positioning a portion of the so-selectedaddress so that such position can be recognized and sensing therecognized difference in position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method andmachine for addressing fiat mailing pieces and, more particularly, to amethod and apparatus for separating a sequence of mailing piecesaccording to their destinations.

In order to rapidly and efficiently address large numbers of mailingpieces (such as magazines, direct mail advertising leaflets, newspapers,and the like), automatic addressing machines have been developed. Anexample of such an addressing machine may be found in the disclosure ofU8. Pat. 3,204,553 which issued Sept. 7, 1965 to Harry V. Kirk.

In one particularly effective addressing machine arrangement, theaddresses are first imprinted by computer techniques on label sheets,however, the address could be typed on the label sheets. The machinethen cuts these label sheets into individual labels and automaticallyplaces each of these labels or the image thereof on a mailing piece.

For the convenience of distribution and to comply with postalregulations, it is often necessary for the mailer to separate mailingpieces thus addressed by states or post ofiice locations, placing eachseparate group in a separate mailing sack. As disclosed in US. Pat. No.3,458,383 by Robert DuFour and Harry V. Kirk, this sorting operation mayalso be automated. At the output of many labeling machines, the mailingpieces may be shingled 3,520,404 Patented July 14, 1970 ice on aconveyor in a normally aligned formation. During the addressingoperation, marks may be placed on the labels of selected mailing pieces.By sensing these marks, the selected pieces may be offset with respectto the normal shingled alignment on the conveyor. If the first or lastmailing piece of a sequence going to a given town or state is offset,the operator may easily separate the shingled pieces into individualbundles or groups without having to actually read the addresses.

While the mailing piece separator disclosed in the aforementionedapplication by Kirk and DuFour has proven to be highly efficient anddependable, it is not without disadvantages. The addition of indicatingmarks to the selected labels detracts from the appearance of the labeland, in some instances, may conflict with bulk mailing postalregulations. Moreover, the mechanical apparatus disclosed in the Kirkand DuFour applications is both complicated and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly an object of the presentinvention to automatically separate mailing pieces into groups withoutapplying any marks specifically for separating purposes to the addresslabel or to the mailing piece.

Another object of this invention is to improve present methods forindicating changes within groupings of mailing pieces.

A further object of this invention is to simplify and reduce the expenseof automatic mailing piece separating arrangements.

In a principal aspect, the present invention takes the form of anarrangement which may be used in conjunction with automatic addressingmachines for automatically separating a sequence of mailing pieces intogroups according to their destinations or the like. In accordance with aprincipal feature of the invention, the address information is arrangedin groups, the address information is placed on each of the mailingpieces in accordance with a selected one of a plurality of possibleformats. Photoelectric means may then be employed for scanning at leasta portion of the address information on each piece either before orafter the address is placed thereon to develop an electrical signalindicative of the format selected for that piece. Means responsive tothe electrical signal thus developed may then be employed for indicatingthe change in group to a device, for example, for separating thesequence of mailing pieces as desired.

Advantageously, format changes may take the form of a variation inplacement of the addressing information on the label or piece.Preferably, the position of the ZIP CODE with respect to the remainderof the address information is varied (within limits) to identifyparticular mailing pieces. However, the position of any other portion ofthe address could be varied or the position of the entire address couldbe varied. A photoelectric device arranged to scan, for example, theline upon which the ZIP CODE is placed may be employed to identify theformat (ZIP CODE location) used. Means responsive to the signal from thephotoelectric device may then be used to discriminate between thevarious possible ZIP CODE placements and to signal selected operationsfor the sorting apparatus.

3 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects, featuresand advantages of the present invention may be better understood byconsidering the following detailed description. In the course of thisdescription, reference will frequently be made to the attached drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing schematically the method in accordancewith the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of an arrangement for separatingmailing pieces which embodies the principles of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the arrangement shown in FIG.1 taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the photoelectric sensor used inthe apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a pulse generating wheel employed in theapparatus of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 depicts a series of waveforms which illustrate the operation ofthe arrangement shown in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The method of the presentinvention is shown in block form in FIG. 1. The addresses within agrouping are arranged in groups according to ZIP CODE or other desiredgroups. This may be done manually, i.e., arrange the labels by hand orby computer, i.e., a computer can be programmed to process thisinformation in a conventional data processing system.

An address which indicates a change in group is then selected. Thiscould be the first or last address within a group. This step also may bedone by hand or by computer as indicated above.

At least a portion of the so selected address or the entire so selectedaddress is then positioned so that the portion so positioned can berecognized as dilferent from that of the addresses that have not been sopositioned. This may be done manually by a typewriter or may again bedone by computer.

The addreses are then placed on the mailing pieces by apparatus asdisclosed below.

The dilference in position of the selected address is then sensed bysuitable apparatus and circuiting to a device such as a mailing pieceseparator as disclosed below. The sensing of the difference in positioncan be done either before or after the addresses are placed on themailing pieces.

The mailing pieces are then conveyed to the mailing piece separatorwhere the mailing piece with the so selected address can be separated.

In FIG. 2, a series of mailing pieces being addressed and sorted by theapparatus are designated by reference numerals 11 through 14. Themailing piece 11 as. shown is about to receive an addressing labelindicated at 16 which is carried upon a labeling drum 20. As the drum 20rotates, it presses label 16 against envelope 11 which is backed up by apressure roller 21.

The mailing pieces 12, 13 and 14 have previously received such labels.The labels themselves are supplied from a label strip supply roll 22.The labels on this roll have already been arranged in groups, an addressselected from each group indicating a change therein and a portion ofthe so selected address positioned appropriately as discussed below. Thelabels could be arranged on computer printout or in a column. In theembodiment shown the label strip 23 which is drawn from the roll 22 bymeans of a cutting knife roll 25 and its associated drive capstan 26comprises a series of successive labels separated by imaginary partinglines.

Prior to passing through the knife roll 25 and drive capstan 26, thelabeling strip 23 passes between an optical light beam source 30 and aphotoelectric detector 31. As will be discussed in detail below, thesignals developed by the photoelectric sensor 31 controls the apparatusfor separating the mailing pieces which are shingled upon the outputbelt conveyer system indicated generally at 35.

Operating power for the labeling and conveyer apparatus may be obtainedfrom any suitable drive source, such as the electric motor indicatedschematically at 40. As indicated by the dashed line 41, the motor 40drives a conveyer belt drum 42 in a clockwise direction, carrying theupper half of belt 43 from left to right in order to convey the labeledmailing pieces from the labeling drum 20 to the output conveyerindicated generally 35. The belt 43 can have timing cogs thereon toproperly position the mailing pieces.

The output conveyer 35 includes a drive axle 45 which is driven directlyby the motor 40 as indicated by the dashed line 46. Three conveyer beltdrums 51, 52 and 53 are keyed to axle 45 for rotation therewith andcarry output conveyer belts 56, 57, and 58. The belts 56 through 58overlay and are vertically supported by a platform 61. In FIG. 2, themailing piece 14 is shown positioned upon the belts 56 through 58.

The conveyer belt 43 moves at a sufficient speed to throw the mailingpieces across the belts 56 through 58 to a positive stop normallyprovided by the downwardly extending gate 59 which is manipulated by asolenoid 60. When the solenoid 60 is energized (in a manner to bediscussed below), gate 59 is lifted and the mailing pieces continuefurther across the output conveyer 35 to the fixed stop provided by theupwardly depending flange 63. This is commonly referred to as a rightangle configuration, however a left angle could be used. Withmodification the entire system could operate in line also.

Thus, as more clearly illustrated in FIG. 3, of the drawings, selectedmailing pieces may be offset with respect to the remainder of the piecesshingled upon the belts 56 through 58. As shown in FIG. 3, the mailingpiece indicated at 69 is offset with respect to the remainder of themailing pieces. This olfset condition was accomplished by temporarilylifting the solenoid operated gate 59 as the mailing piece 69 was thrownfrom the belt 43 across the output conveyer belts 56 through 58.

The energization of solenoid 60 is controlled in response to electricalsignals received from the photoelectric sensor 31. The signals fromsensor 31 are compared with timing signals generated by a rotating codewheel pulse generator indicated generally at 70. Signals from the sensor31 as well as signals from the code wheel pulse generator arrangement 70are supplied to a logic circuit (indicated generally within thedashed-line rectangle) which provide appropriately timed pulses forenergizing solenoid 60 through the logic circuit output conductor 74.

As most clearly seen in FIG. 4 of the drawings, the optical light beamsource 30in combination with the photoelectric sensor 31 scans a singleline of address information on each label in the labeling strip 23. Inthe embodiment of the invention which will be described in detailhereinbelow, the bottom or ZIP CODE line is selected for scanning andparticular labels are identified by the horizontal position of the ZIPCODE with respect to the remaining portion of the address information.

As contemplated by this embodiment of the invention, the addresses onthe label strip 23 may be printed by known computer techniques. Thecomputer imprinting arrangement may be programmed to position the ZIPCODE relative to the remainder of the address information in accordancewith a set of programming rules, a typical set of which is outlinedbelow for purposes of illustration. These rules may be better understoodby referring to the addresses printed on label strip 23 as illustratedat the top of FIG. 6. (Because the strip 23 is shown upside down, theaddress information appears backward and in phantom.)

(1) All addresses are to end on line 4. Therefore, all four lineaddresses begin on line 1, all three line addresses begin on line 2,etc. The fifth line is normally empty--but may contain a ZIP CODE undercertain conditions.

(2) Except when those conditions indicated below exist, the five digitZIP CODE appears on line 4 and is positioned not less than two spacesnor more than six spaces after the city-state line ends (address A is anexample of this normal condition):

Condition No. 1: When the city-state line is too long to permitplacement of the ZIP CODE at the end thereof, the ZIP CODE will beplaced on line and begin even with the address lines above. (Address Bis an example of this overflow condition.)

Condition No. 2: All abels having the same ZIP CODE occur in sequenceand the ZIP CODE on the first label in such a sequence is placed on line5 but shifted two spaces to the left. (Address C is an example of thisZIP CODE change condition.)

Condition No. 3: When it is desired to program a machine stop or othermachine function a selected label may include a ZIP CODE on line 5shifted four (but could be any figure) spaces to the left. (Address Dillustrates such a machine stop condition.)

There may be any number of coded positions each one indicated by adifferent amount of shifting, each one triggering a different outputfunction.

In order for the labels to be properly applied to each mailing piece inthe embodiment shown, the lettering on each label is on the underside ofthe label strip 23 as it is pulled from the roll 22. One otheraddressing machines the lettering may be on the topside of the roll.This does not affect the principle of operation of the system but onlyaffects where the scanner is physically positioned to scan theaddresses. The labels are slightly translucent so that light from theoptical beam source 30 shines through the label to the photoelectricsensor 31. The light beam source 30 is positioned such that the beamscans the fifth address line along a path indicated generally at 77 inFIGS. 4 and 6.

Whenever ZIP CODE numerals are present in the beam path between source30 and detector 31, the light is somewhat obscured, reducing themagnitude of the electrical signal delivered by the sensor 31. Thiseffect is illustrated by the waveform shown at E on FIG. 6. (Thiswaveform appears on the conductor indicated by the letter E in FIG. 2.)It should be noted at the onset that the photoelectric arrangement 31employed need not be capable of distinguishing between differentnumerals in the ZIP CODE-so long as it can detect the presence orabsence of a numeral. Thus, it should be understood that the signalgenerated at the output of detector 31 is indicative of the presence orabsence of the ZIP CODE numeral at a particular location but does notidentify the particular numerals.

The position of the ZIP CODE on each label is determined by comparingthe time at which the sensor 31 develops a signal (indicative of thepresence of an alphanumeric character) with an electrical timing signaldeveloped by the rotating wheel pulse generator 70. The generator 70includes a windowed code wheel 71 which is driven at a constant speed ina clockwise direction by the motor 40. Code wheel 71, an enlarged viewof which appears in FIG. 5, normally completes one revolution for eachmailing piece handled by the apparatus. (As will be discussed later,when smaller mailing pieces are processed, means are employed forhandling these at twice the normal rate.) As shown most clearly in FIG.5, forty equally spaced windows are distributed about the outerperiphery of the wheel 71, one of these windows being indicated at 72.Radially inward from the outer row of windows 72, two arcuate rows ofsix windows each are positioned at 73 and 74, the windows 73 havingnearly twice the radial length of the windows 74. Still closer to thecenter of the wheel 71, two windows 75 and 76 are positioned adjacentthe arcuate rows 72 and 73 respectively.

As seen in FIG. 2, a photoelectric device indicated generally at 80 ispositioned adjacent rotating wheel 70 and includes three photoelectricdetectors 81, 82 and 83. The detector 81 is positioned to receive lightpulses passing through the outer row of windows 72. Similarly, detector82 receives light passing through the two arcuate rows of windows 73 and74 while the third detector 83 receives light shining through the twoindividual windows 75 and 76.

The photodetector 81 accordingly provides a continuous series of equallyspaced optical pulses (40 pulses for each rotation of the wheel 71). Thephotodetector 82 delivers two bursts of pulses for each rotation of thewheel 71, there being six pulses in each burst. The photodetector 83delivers a pair of pulses each of which appears shortly after theconclusion of the pulse burst delivered by photodetector 82.

The waveform from the scanning photodetector 31 is applied to the inputof a slicer in the logic circuit 72. The input waveform E applied toslicer 90 is illustrated in FIG. 6 at E. The slicer 90 compares theinput waveform E with a predetermined threshold voltage (indicated bythe horizontal dashed line 91 in FIG. 6) and generates an outputwaveform F in the form of a negative going output pulse which existswhenever the input voltage waveform E falls below the slicer thresholdvalue. The waveform F of FIG. 6 appears at the output of slicer 90 onconductor F in FIG. 2.

The output of slicer 90 is connected to one input of an AND gate 92, theother input of which receives the pulse burst waveform G from the sensor82. The wheel 71 is arranged on its axis so that the sensor 82 begins todeliver a series of six discrete pulses as shown in FIG. 6 at G startingat a point corresponding to 13 ,6 inch character spaces before thetrailing edge of the label. Sensor 31 indicates the passage of a ZIPCODE on the fifth line of the address which is positioned in line withthe remainder of the address information. Should the detected ZIP CODEhave been shifted with respect to the remainder of the addressinformation to indicate a ZIP CODE change or machine stop condition,pulses in waveform G exist simultaneously with the pulses from theoutput of the slicer 90 (waveform P) such that a selected number ofpulses are gated through the AND gate 92. The resulting waveform at theoutput of AND gate 92 is illustrated by the waveform H shown in FIG. 6.Any pulses which do appear at the output of AND gate 92 are applied tothe input of a six-stage shift register 95.

Shift register 95 takes the form well known in the art wherein the firstinput pulse is temporarily stored in the left-hand stage but advances tothe right by one stage whenever the second pulse is received, and so on.Thus, if four pulses are applied to the input of the register 95, thesepulses are stored in the first four stages from the left such that thefirst four output conductors (including the second and fourth outputconductors 97 and 98 respectively) are energized. Any pulse countreceived by the register 95 is retained until the register is reset bythe energization of the reset input indicated at 99, in the manner to bediscussed below.

Output conductor 97 from the second stage of the shift register 95 isconnected to the input of an INHIBIT gate 100. The control input of gate100 is connected to conductor 98, the output from the fourth stage ofshift register 95. Output conductor 101 from gate 100 is accordinglyenergized whenever conductor 97 is energized except when conductor 98 isalso energized. Thus, conductor 101 is energized whenever either two orthree pulses have been shifted into the shift register 95 from AND gate92.

Conductor 98 is also connected to the input of a second INHIBIT gate102, the control input of which is connected via conductor 103 to theoutput from the last stage of the shift register 95. Conductor 105, theoutput from gate 102, is accordingly energized whenever four or fivepulses have been shifted into the register 95.

The energization of conductor 101 indicates a ZIP CODE change" conditionwhile the energization of conductor 105 indicates a machine stop orother machine function condition. These conductors are energizedimmediately after the label indicating the particular condition haspassed between the scanning light source 30 and the photodetector 31.Actual changes in machine operation must, however, be delayed until theparticular mailing piece involved has reached the desired point in themachine. Accordingly, means are employed for delaying the change inmachine operation due to a ZIP CODE change condition until the mailingpiece sensed has been almost completely processed by the labelingapparatus and is about to be placed on output conveyor 35.

As may be seen in FIG. 2, four different labels, each of which maycontain different instructions to the machine, are being processed insequence, one after the other. The label indicated at 108 in FIG. 2 isjust passing between the light source 30 and detector 31, label 16 is onthe labeling drum 20, and labels have already been applied to themailing pieces 12 and 13. It is accordingly necessary to provide fourdifferent time delay devices to remember the instructions on each labelbeing processed. To serve this need, distribution switch 110 controlledby the pulses developed by photodetector 83 sequentially connects theoutput 101 to four separate delay counters 111, 112, 113 and 114 ofsimilar design.

Pulses for actuating one of the delay counters 111 to 114 are gated fromthe output of AND gate 100 at the appropriate time by means of thecombination of a flipflop 115 and an AND gate 116. The set input offlipfiop 115 receives pulses from the photodetector 83 while the resetinput of flip-flop 115 is connected through delay unit 117 to thephotodetector 83. Thus, flip-flop 115 and shift register 95 are reset atthe same time.

By way of example, assume that the address on label 108 (shown in FIG. 2passing between light source 30 and detector 31) has imprinted thereonan address of the type indicated by address C in FIG. 6. The ZIP CODE inthis address is offset two spaces to indicate a ZIP CODE changecondition and causes two pulses to be gated into the shift register 95as indicated by the two pulses in waveform H of FIG. 6 below address C.This energizes output conductor 101. The pulse generated byphotodetector 83 (waveform I) has set flip-flop 115 to connect theconductor 101 to the input to switch 110. This pulse also advancesdistribution switch 110 such that the output of AND gate 116 (asshown inwaveform O in FIG. 6) is connected via conductor 118 to the delaycounter 111.

Conductor 118 is connected to the flip-flop 119 in delay counter 111.Conductor 118 and hence the set input of flip-flop 119 remain energizeduntil the flip-flop 15 and the shift register 95 are reset. This occurswhen the pulse from photodetector 83 in generator 70 (the same pulsewhich advanced distribution switch 110 and set flipfiop 115) passesthrough delay unit 117. The delayed waveform at the output of delay unit117 is illustrated as waveform I in FIG. 6.

As soon as flip-flop 119 has been set, one input of a counter 120 isenergized. A second input to counter 120 is connected to thephotodetector 81 of generator 70 and accordingly receives forty pulsesfor each rotation of the wheel 71 as shown in FIG. at K. Since thesepulses are produced by the rotation of wheel 71, their repetition rateis directly proportional to the operating speed of the machine. Counter120 is adapted to count these pulses until a predetermined count isreached at which time its output 121 is energized as shown in FIG. 5 atL. Output 121 is connected through an isolation diode 125 and theconductor 74 to the solenoid 60.

Thus, as the label 108 in FIG. 2 passes through the photoelectricsensing arrangement comprising light source 30 and detector 31, thecounter 120 begins counting and will complete its count just as themailing piece to which label 108 is applied is about to be thrown ontothe output conveyor unit 35. At this time, the counter completes itscount and causes the gate 59 to be lifted such that the mailing piece towhich label 108 has been applied will be offset with respect to theother shingled mailing pieces on the output conveyor 35.

Gate 59 remains in its lifted position until counter 120 is reset. Forthis purpose, the energization of output 121 is delayed by a delay unit129 and the delayed signal is applied to reset both counter 120 andflip-flop 119. When counter 120 is reset, output 121 is de-energized andthe gate 59 is permitted to return to its original position.

The other delay counters 112, 113 and 114 are also connected to thedistribution switch 110 and are similar in construction and operation tothe counter 111 described in detail above.

The operation of the apparatus when a machine stop condition is detectedmay be explained as follows: a machine address format of the typeillustrated by address D in FIG. 6 introduces four (but could 'be anynumber) pulses into the shift register 95. This causes conductor 105 tobe energized with a pulse as shown in waveform P in FIG. 6 and sets theflip-flop 140. The counter then begins counting pulses fromphotodetector 81 until a predetermined count is reached as shown in FIG.6 at m at which time conductor is energized. Conductor 150 is connectedto the input of a solenoid operated clutch which couples the drive motor40 and all moving parts of the labeling apparatus except the conveyerdrive hub 42 and the output conveyor 35. Energization of conductor 150thus stops the machine labeling operations until counter 145 andflip-flop 140 are reset by pressing reset button 160. This machine stopcondition sensing arrangement is particularly useful when it is desiredto temporarily stop the machine to change the type of mailing piecesbeing addressed.

The pulse generator 70 may be readily adapted to operate in conjunctionwith smaller mailing pieces which may be processed at twice the normalrate. In this instance, the distance between mailing piece centers isset at one-half the usual length. As can be seen in FIG. 5 of thedrawings, the windowed code wheel 71 is provided with two diametricallyopposed sets of windows 73 and 74. The photodetector 82 is normally setrelative to the wheels 71 such that it scans the disc along a pathindicated at 161 in FIG. 5. In this case, only the radially longerwindows 73 appear at the detector 82 as the wheel 71 rotates. Similarly,the detector 83 scans along path 162 which intersects only the longerwindow 75. In order for the detectors 82 and 83 to generate pulses ontwo occasions during each revolution of the code wheel 71, it is merelynecessary to move the detector 82 and 83 upward such that they insteadscan the paths 164 and 165 respectively. This permits two sets of timingpulses to be generated during each revolution and allows smaller mailingpieces to be handled at twice the normal rate.

As it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, many other machinefunctions besides the ZIP CODE change and machine stop functions may becontrolled in a similar manner to that discussed in detail above.

While the invention has been described with reference to the structuredisclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth, and thisapplication is intended to cover such modifications or changes as maycome within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for indicating changes in grouping of mailing pieces wherebyto actuate a device to perform an act on certain ones of the mailingpieces to distinguish the mailing piece groupings from one anotherincluding the steps of arranging addresses to be placed on the mailingpieces according to groups,

selecting addresses which indicate a change in group, offsetting atleast a portion of the selected addresses appropriately with respect toa given reference position so that such, selected addresses can berecognized,

conveying the mailing pieces to the point of actuation of the device,and

actuating the device in response to said selected addresses wherebymailing pieces bearing said selected addresses are acted upon todistinguish the mailing piece groupings with which each of said selectedaddresses are associated from other mailing piece groupings.

2. A method for indicating a change within a grouping of mailing piecesincluding the steps of:

arranging addresses to be placed on the mailing pieces in groups,selecting an address which indicates a change in group, offsetting atleast a portion of one line of the selected address from the other linesof said selected address to permit said selected addresses to berecognized as different from the addresses that have not been soselected, sensing the recognized difference in position of the addressand visibly indicating the change in mailing piece grouping followingsensing of said recognized difference in address position.

3. A method for indicating changes in grouping of mailing pieces wherebyto actuate a device to perform an act on certain ones of the mailingpieces to distinguish the mailing piece groupings from one anotherincluding the steps of:

arranging addresses to be placed on the mailing pieces in groupsserially,

selecting addresses at the beginning or end of each positioning at leasta portion of one line of the selected address appropriately with respectto a given reference position associated with each address so that suchselected address can be recognized,

placing the addresses on the mailing pieces,

conveying the mailing pieces to the point of actuation of the device,and

actuating said device in response to said selected addresses whereby themailing pieces bearing said selected addresses are acted upon todistinguish the mailing piece grouping with which each of said selectedaddresses are associated from other mailing piece groupings.

4. A method for indicating changes in ZIP CODE of addressed mailingpieces with a device adapted when actuated to perform an act on selectedones of said addressed mailing pieces to thereby distinguish groups ofmailing pieces having a common ZIP CODE number from mailing pieces withdifferent ZIP CODE numbers, including the steps of:

arranging addresses to be placed on the mailing pieces in groupsaccording to ZIP CODE, selecting addresses which indicate changes in ZIPCODE,

positioning at least a portion of the selected addresses appropriatelyso that such addresses can be recognized as different from addressesthat have not been so selected,

placing the addresses on the mailing pieces,

conveying the mailing pieces to the point of actuation of the device,and

actuating said device in response to said selected addresses whereby todistinguish groups of mailing pieces having a common ZIP CODE numberfrom mailing pieces with different ZIP CODE numbers.

5. A method for indicating a change in grouping of mailing pieceswhereby to actuate a device to separate se lected mailing pieces fromthe remaining ones of said mailing pieces, the steps including arrangingaddresses to be placed on the mailing pieces in groups,

selecting addresses which indicate changes in mailing piece groups,

positioning at least a portion of the selected addresses appropriatelyso that such position can be recognized as different from the positionof remaining addresses that have not been so selected,

placing the addresses on the mailing pieces,

conveying the mailing pieces to the mailing piece separating device, and

actuating said mailing piece separating device in response to thedifferent position of said selected address portion whereby to separatethe selected mailing piece from the remaining mailing pieces.

6. In an apparatus for processing a sequence of mailing pieces thecombination of:

a source of individual address informations for said mailing pieces,said address informations being adapted to include control informationcomprising a change in address format distinguishable from the addressformats of other address informations,

photoelectric means for scanning at least a portion of each addressinformation for said mailing pieces in said sequence to develop acorresponding sequence of electrical signals respectively indicative ofthe address information formats for said pieces,

a signal discriminator for detecting the presence of a signal indicativeof said change in address format, and

means responsive to said signal discriminator for controlling theoperation of said apparatus in response to changes in said addressformats.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said change in addressformat comprises displacement of a selected portion of said addressinformation from the normal location for said address information.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said photoelectricmeans is adapted to scan said selected portion of said addressinformations.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said signaldiscriminator includes a source of clocking pulses and means forcomparing the time position of each of said signals with one of saidpulses to provide an indication of the location of said selected portionof said address information.

10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said apparatusincludes means for separating said mailing pieces into groups, saidsignal discriminator responsive means being adapted to actuate saidmailing piece separating means in response to a predetermined change insaid address information formats.

11. The apparatus as set forth in claim 6 including means adapted whenactuated to stop at least a portion of said apparatus, said signaldiscriminator responsive means being adapted to actuate said stop meansin response to a predetermined change in said address informationformats.

12. In combination with apparatus for automatically addressing asequence of mailing pieces, an arrangement for automatically separatingsaid pieces according to groups, comprising, in combination,

means for placing address information on each of said mailing pieces,said address informations being adapted to incorporate different addressformats distinguishable from one another,

photoelectric means for scanning at least a portion of said addressinformation to produce an electrical output signal in response todifferent address information formats,

electrical timing means for producing a delayed control signal at apredetermined time after the occurence of said output signal, and

means associated with said addressing apparatus and operable in responseto said delayed signal to separate selected mailing pieces from theremainder of said mailing pieces whereby to distinguish betweendifferent groups of said mailing pieces.

13. An arrangement as set forth in claim 12 wherein said addressinformation formats are formed by off-setting a selected portion of saidaddress information at predetermined locations with respect to theremainder of said address information and wherein said photoelectricmeans is positioned to scan said selected portion.

14. An arrangement as set forth in claim 12 wherein said timing meanscomprises means for generating pulses at a rate directly related to theoperating speed of said addressing apparatus, means responsive to saidfirst signal for initiating a count of said pulses, and means forgenerating said delayed signal when said count reaches a predeterminedvalue.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,609,928 9/1952 Doust 209723,283,163 11/1966 Folmar 27157 X RICHARD A. SCHACHER, Primary ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

